The AnswerBank Articles

Over the moon: Sport speak

Q. Is what A. Love it or hate it, sport, and the way it affects the language that we speak, seems impossible to avoid. So lets 'get off the blocks' and see how many we can 'knock out'. Q. Speaking01:00 Mon 20th Aug 2001

Dish me the dirt on Polari

Q. What is Polari A. Polari (or Palarie) was a gay slang, almost an alternative language, and is best described as a mish-mash of expressions and words from many sources thrown together to make an01:00 Mon 20th Aug 2001

Plates of meat: How we use carnivorous dishes and fish in sayings

Q. Where's the beef A. Taken from a 1984 Wendy hamburgers advert, 'where's the beef ' now means 'cut the waffle and get to the meat of what you're trying to say'. In the ad an old lady bought a01:00 Mon 20th Aug 2001

Spin Doctors

Q. When did politicians' advisers start being referred to as 'spin doctors' A. The tag was first used in The New York Times in 1984, during President Reagan's campaign for a second term in office. 01:00 Mon 13th Aug 2001

The Snail and Roquet (with parmesan shavings): What happened to proper pub names

Q. The Horseshoe or Shoe's Bar A. Breweries are calling time on ancient pub names and are being accused of destroying Britain's cultural heritage. There is a growing fashion for rebranding pubs with01:00 Mon 13th Aug 2001

It isn't over until the fat lady sings

Q. What fat lady And why is she singing A. Used mostly by sports commentators, often in a spirit of reassurance to the supporters of the losing team, the phrase is trotted out to remind people that01:00 Mon 13th Aug 2001

ABC: The alphabet

Q. Where did our alphabet come from A. Our alphabet is called the Latin or Roman alphabet, and it is most widely used alphabetic system in the world, with languages as diverse as Vietnamese in the01:00 Mon 06th Aug 2001

Etcetera: Latin words and phrases in English

Q. Why do we use so many Latin phrases in English A. Even in everyday speech, we use a number of words and phrases taken directly from Latin. Some are modern - 'annus horribilis' (horrible year),01:00 Mon 06th Aug 2001

A dog's dinner : Canine phrases

Q. A dog's what A. In addition to its literal sense, as in dog biscuit, dog is used in combination to denote the male of certain animals (dog ape, dog fox and dog otter); to denote inferior plants01:00 Mon 06th Aug 2001

When does a boat become a ship

A. The determining factors that distinguish boats from ships has evolved over time. The term 'ship' traditionally referred to a sailing vessel having three or more masts. In modern times, however, a01:00 Mon 30th Jul 2001

Some football club names are pretty obvious, but why Leyton 'Orient'

A. The well-known 3rd-division London club was founded in 1881 by members of a cricket club in Hackney so that they could continue playing together in the winter months. In 1888 they adopted the name01:00 Mon 30th Jul 2001

Where does the phrase 'spitting feathers' come from

A. As ssmart has suggested, the phrase 'spitting feathers' quite possibly derives from being rendered speechless with anger, rather like Donald Duck. But how else do we use feathers in sayings Here01:00 Mon 30th Jul 2001

What's new in the dictionary

A. As reported this week (ending 21 July 2001) Oxford University Press has announced the new words included in the Oxford Compact English Dictionary. A total of 67 new words have gone in, and they01:00 Mon 23rd Jul 2001

Should the flag of Great Britain be called the Union Jack or the Union Flag

A. Both are correct. Originally it was called the Union Flag or the Great Union, but most of us today know it as the Union Jack. Q. Why is it so complicated Why don't we have a simple tricolour01:00 Mon 23rd Jul 2001

What's an eponym

A. Xerox is, for starters. An eponym is someone or something whose name is or is thought to be the source of something's name. So Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome, is the eponym of the city he01:00 Mon 23rd Jul 2001

What is Utopia

A. The dictionary definition is an imaginary and indefinitely remote place or a place of idealist perfection, especially in laws, government and social conditions. By extension, it has also come to01:00 Mon 16th Jul 2001

What is a red-letter day

A. Red-letter days were originally the holy days and saints' days indicated in early ecclesiastical calendars by letters marked in red ink. So, by extension, a red-letter day is a special day, one to01:00 Mon 16th Jul 2001

What is the water of life

A. Eau de vie, aquavit, uisce beathadh or uisge beatha, all are synonymous with the water of life - an English translation of the medieval Latin aqua vitae, and a rather poetic way of referring to01:00 Mon 16th Jul 2001

How do we misuse the word 'ethnic'

Q. Can foods be 'ethnic', asks janelh A. In a word, no. It's a lazy - and incorrect - way that supermarkets (in the case of this question) denote 'non-British' foodstuffs. What they mean is 'food01:00 Mon 09th Jul 2001

Double Dutch

Q. Spreekt u nederlands A. Unless you've lived in Holland or Flemish-speaking Belgium or have a parent from either of those countries, the chances are you don't. As any of you who have visited01:00 Mon 09th Jul 2001